Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2024/spring/Section13/A Negro Funeral Director

A Negro Funeral Director - The Life of James Mack

The viewing service at a Harlem gang leader's funeral.

Biography

Early Life

Unfortunately, very little is known of Mr. James Mack’s upbringing and childhood, but it is understood that he was instilled with the value of hard work, considering that he built his funeral home business from the ground up, and the importance of family as well, as Mack’s tight bond with his sons and wife was evident in his interview. Growing up in the heavily segregated city of Athens, Georgia, Mack said that he grew up with the firsthand understanding that life wasn’t fair, given his experience with racism and oppression, and made the grave statement that, “the only thing ‘dat’s certain in this life is death.” Mack’s family was paramount to him, as he reflected, “If it wasn’t for my older brothers, I’d be in one of ‘dem caskets now.”

Adult Life

The hardship-ridden, strife-filled life of Mr. James Mack, an African-American funeral director in Athens, Georgia was one of great importance and fulfillment during the Great Depression. During a time in America when virtually nothing seemed certain, death was one of the very few constants. Thus, Mack had a significant role in his poor, impoverished community. He details the emotional charge brought upon him when he began his undertaking business, and how he learned and developed the skill of not being easily attached to many people since he knew they could be taken from him at any moment. During the interview, Mack stated that many of his clients were insistent on his services as soon as possible, as his clients, oftentimes family members of the deceased, emotionally could not stand to be around their dead loved ones for any longer than was absolutely necessary. Although he doubted it made much of a difference, Mack said he always carried out his business with kindness and compassion for the deceased’s loved ones, prioritizing his relationship with their families over business in such a sad, sorrowful time.

Social Context

Turpentine Camps in the South

Taking place in wooded, secluded work sites cut off from the outside world was the dangerously laborious workforce behind the shameful establishments of Turpentine Camps. Impoverished, black slaves were forcibly trapped in this brutal process of hacking into tree trunks to extract the sticky, dark liquid before hauling the resin off to stills to be purified, a lethal system of indebted servitude. Oftentimes never receiving an adequate amount of breaks throughout the day, starvation, dehydration, heat stroke, and exhaustion, along with no medical resources at such camps, lead to the death of an enumerable amount of slaves at these camps (Celeski, David, 2021). These camps were completely separate from regular, everyday life, as the ‘employees’ were paid with tokens that could be used at food stations and shops around the camp. Upon their departure, workers and their families left their work without any financial gain. They often died of starvation or weather-induced sickness, not being able to pay for food or sufficient shelter (Writer, Staff, 2004).

Funeral Homes During the Great Depression

Funeral Homes were one of the few industries that continued to live on throughout this period when so many others fizzled and faded out. This being said, organizations offering mortuary services did not thrive or excel by any means, as funeral directors were forced to accept massive pay cuts for their services, considering that virtually no family could afford to pay the complete cost of a proper burial or cremation (Alderman-Tuttle, Zoey, 2012). Funeral directors lived incredibly frugal lives, and sometimes even received non-financial payments, such as food, clothing, or medical resources. Demand was always high in this profession, which spiked with the staggering increase in suicide rates, as, “suicides increased during the Great Depression, peaking with unemployment, especially in the most recessionary years, 1921, 1932, and 1938,” (Granados, José A. Tapia, 2009).

Black Business Owners During the 1930s

Doubling or sometimes even tripling the rate of whites, black unemployment rates during this time period were absolutely astounding (Klein, Christopher, 2018). Blacks filled insignificant, considerably low-paying jobs that were oftentimes heavily labor-intensive, demanding sixteen to eighteen hours of arduous labor for a disproportionately low wage. Therefore, black business owners and those with noteworthy positions in the workforce were highly rare, since underlying economic racism made it even more so difficult for African-American entrepreneurs and leaders to succeed. On the other hand, it was quite customary to see companies and corporations spearheaded by black owners staffed by black employees, since it was still uncommon for white-owned businesses to hire people of color at the time (Bonds, Michael, 2007).

References

1. "A Negro Funeral Director," Interview by Miss Grace McCune, Folder 230, the Federal Writers' Project papers #3709, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/03709/id/848/rec/1
2. Alderman-Tuttle, Zoey. “‘A Dress of the Right Length to Die In’: Mortuary and Memorial Practices Amongst Depression-Era Tenant Farmers of the Piedmont South .” 8 Sept. 2012.
3. Bonds, Michael. “Looking Beyond the Numbers: The Struggles of Black Businesses to Survive: A Qualitative Approach.” Journal of Black Studies 37, no. 5 (2007): 581–601. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40034357.
4. Granados, José A. Tapia, Ana V. Diez Roux, and Alejandro Portes. “Life and Death during the Great Depression.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106, no. 41 (2009): 17290–95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40485181.
5. Cecelski, David. “North Carolina and the Turpentine Trail.” Coastal Review, 24 May 2021, coastalreview.org/2019/08/the-turpentine-trail/.
6. Klein, Christopher. “Last Hired, First Fired: How the Great Depression Affected African Americans.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, 31 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/news/last-hired-first-fired-how-the-great-depression-affected-african-americans.
7. Parks, Gordon. Harlem Gang Leader. 1948. Pleasantville, New York.
8. Writer, Staff. “The History of Florida Turpentine Camps.” Herald-Tribune, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2004, www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2004/03/15/the-history-of-florida-turpentine-camps/28793925007/.